Travelex Cash Passport Globe - Beats the rest?

char1iecha1k

Hi

I am investigating travel prepaid card options. I have found that the Travelex Cash Passport Globe is not listed on the MSE Cheap travel site, nor is there much mention of it in the forums here. Has anyone had any experience with it? How competitive are the rates?

My findings so far: For global FX the Travelex appears to be the best (unless Travelex FX are that much worse than others) since there is no fee for adding funds and only 1.49% transaction fee for cash withdrawals and card purchases alike. Also at the moment the card is free to apply for normall £30ish. The next best is the Caxtonfx global but their charge is 2.5% and Fairfx but they charge a fixed fee aswell as a percentage.

I think I am going to get both a Caxton Euro and a Travelex Globe and split my money over each. I know in the euro zone the Caxton will be much cheaper but then outside of it the Travelex will be far cheaper, the big question is will it beat the Caxton worldwide one?

Baldur

You appear to only be considering the fee/percentage charge rather than the underlying exchange rate - I don't know about Travelex or Caxton but FairFX use the prevailing Mastercard rate on the date that the transaction/withdrawal is reported to them.

If the other issuers apply their own rate, it could be that the FairFX card will beat them, despite apparently higher charges.

Mastercard's currency converter can be found HERE for comparison - just enter date and the base currency of your card (GBP) Pound Sterling.

dzug1

Travelex are not renowned for good rates - other than pay in advance to pick up at the airport where they are passable rather than good.

char1iecha1k

On the 3 companies websites mentioned above they all quote a rate that they use, and they all differ, but as far as I can tell the difference is quite small ie 1.114 instead of 1.116 so if you where to use £1000 the difference is likely to be a few pounds, so I am ignoring the discrepancies between the actual used rates because the transaction fee overshadows the FX rate

IE

Spend £1000 on card A : £1116 - (2.5% x 1116) = £1088.1
Spend £1000 on card B : £1114 - (1.5% x 1114) = £1097.3
Spend £1000 on Card C : £1116 - (1.5% x 1116) - £1.5 = 1097.8

note for smaller amounts card c becomes less competitive as the effect of the £1.5 fee becomes more dominant

So yes the rate that travelex FX may be bad in comparison, but their charge is far lower. For Travelex to be worse than Caxton the FX rate would have to be

1.104 ie : £1104 - (1.5% x 1104) = £1087

I dont think Travelex use interbank rates, they say travelex rates + 1.49% well as explained above unless their rates are way lower you still get a good deal

If someone has used them before I would love to know

Since posting I have found this thread seems as though my assumptions are correct.

As the Travelex globe FX fee of 1.49% is much lower than the 2.5% of the Caxton card and the 1.5% + £1.50 fee of the Fairfx fee, unless travelex use a really bad FX it wins.

stilltheone

char1iecha1k wrote: »

On the 3 companies websites mentioned above they all quote a rate that they use, and they all differ, but as far as I can tell the difference is quite small ie 1.114 instead of 1.116 so if you where to use £1000 the difference is likely to be a few pounds, so I am ignoring the discrepancies between the actual used rates because the transaction fee overshadows the FX rate

IE

Spend £1000 on card A : £1116 - (2.5% x 1116) = £1088.1
Spend £1000 on card B : £1114 - (1.5% x 1114) = £1097.3
Spend £1000 on Card C : £1116 - (1.5% x 1116) - £1.5 = 1097.8

note for smaller amounts card c becomes less competitive as the effect of the £1.5 fee becomes more dominant

So yes the rate that travelex FX may be bad in comparison, but their charge is far lower. For Travelex to be worse than Caxton the FX rate would have to be

1.104 ie : £1104 - (1.5% x 1104) = £1087

I dont think Travelex use interbank rates, they say travelex rates + 1.49% well as explained above unless their rates are way lower you still get a good deal

If someone has used them before I would love to know

Since posting I have found this thread seems as though my assumptions are correct.

As the Travelex globe FX fee of 1.49% is much lower than the 2.5% of the Caxton card and the 1.5% + £1.50 fee of the Fairfx fee, unless travelex use a really bad FX it wins.

The Travelex Cash Passport Globe uses the unadulterated Mastercard rate.

The FairFx Anywhere card has shot itself in the foot with it's new cash withdrawal charge.

But if it's used for purchases only, it becomes the best value for international usage.

char1iecha1k

Have you had any experience with the Travelex Cash Passport Globe? I have been trying to find information about whether your bank will charge you for loading onto this card. I am fairly certain that they dont for the Caxtonfx and Fairfx cards but I believe that the Travelex ones do, if this is the case then it makes the Travelex less competitive.

stilltheone

char1iecha1k wrote: »

Have you had any experience with the Travelex Cash Passport Globe? I have been trying to find information about whether your bank will charge you for loading onto this card. I am fairly certain that they dont for the Caxtonfx and Fairfx cards but I believe that the Travelex ones do, if this is the case then it makes the Travelex less competitive.

You should look to your bank in order to answer this question.
Why should your bank charge you for making a cash withdrawal of your own money, in £s?

Perhaps the issue would be if you paid with a CC, as it could be treated as a cash withdrawal with a CC.

Remember that you are not buying foreign currency, so there should be no issues.

char1iecha1k

My bank has been clear, any purchase of foreign currency will be charged a %. The problem is I cant find out whether Travelex will proccess this as buying foreign currency or a straightforward purchase. As I said above Caxtonfx has told me clearly that it will be processed as a purchase (an d a friend has also corroborated this), then they convert into the currency. What led me to this doubt is that when you come to purchase the Travelex card it says your bank may charge you, my bank say only if it is purchasing foreign currency, Travelex then cant or wont tell me how they process it, they keep referring me back to my bank. So I am unsure which is the case, I wish someone could tell me from experience which it is. Eventually I will just buy both (for minimum purchase amount) and see what happens, at the end of the day it is only going to be £1.50

stilltheone

char1iecha1k wrote: »

My bank has been clear, any purchase of foreign currency will be charged a %.....

You are not buying foreign currency.... you are loading with £s.

stilltheone

char1iecha1k wrote: »

As the Travelex globe FX fee of 1.49% is much lower than the 2.5% of the Caxton card and the 1.5% + £1.50 fee of the Fairfx fee, unless travelex use a really bad FX it wins.

This is wrong. The FairFx Anywhere card charges 1.4%. But they have an extra charge for using ATMs abroad, set at £1.

spooner

char1iecha1k wrote: »

My bank has been clear, any purchase of foreign currency will be charged a %. The problem is I cant find out whether Travelex will proccess this as buying foreign currency or a straightforward purchase. As I said above Caxtonfx has told me clearly that it will be processed as a purchase (an d a friend has also corroborated this), then they convert into the currency. What led me to this doubt is that when you come to purchase the Travelex card it says your bank may charge you, my bank say only if it is purchasing foreign currency, Travelex then cant or wont tell me how they process it, they keep referring me back to my bank. So I am unsure which is the case, I wish someone could tell me from experience which it is. Eventually I will just buy both (for minimum purchase amount) and see what happens, at the end of the day it is only going to be £1.50

My wife used a Travelex Globe for an extended trip during December while I stayed in the UK and made sure her card was topped up. Alliance & Leicester/Santander didn't charge for loading the card - it was a simple £ sterling money transfer as you would for paying a credit card, for example.

Things to watch though. The first bank transfer took a full week to appear in the Globe account. Subsequent transfers were the more usual 1-3 days. From memory, the bank account has to be in the same name as the Globe card holder (our bank a/c is in joint names and that worked).

Any remaining balance on the card will cost you to get back. £6 through "card services". Alternatively, they charge a 99p flat rate per UK tranaction so I'm going to top up to a round figure+£1 and draw out the cash at a UK ATM.

The "usual price £29.99" for the Globe card is possibly marketing - it has been "free" for at least 6 months...